Questions on automatic backup and missing space on external HD's

I have a 2nd internal hard drive which I have been using as a backup. But I decided that I ought to get some external backups as well.

In 2011 I bought an external WD Drive 500GB, which says it has 465GB available space to use. There is now 8GB left free. Windows 7 refused to do automatic backups so I dragged and dropped. But I had problems with it, so put it aside. I had another go in 2012 and dragged the docs and photos onto it. But it came up drive full, when there should have been a lot of space still left. I gave up on it. Now I am looking at it again and found the following:

July 2011 Folder WindowsImageBackup which has a Backup folder with 2 VHD files one of 40mb and one of 40.4GB. I found that VHD is Virtual PC which is no help, can?t find a program to open them.

Also 11 XML files consisting of kb up to 4mb. They want to connect to the internet, but it won?t connect.

And what are the VHD files, I can?t remember what I did to create a image backup in 2011, as it didn?t seem to have worked at the time.

I have just backed up my photos from Drive C to a Buffalo 500GB Drive dragging and dropping, which seems to have gone ok. And I can see and access the files.

Also I have just bought a WD Elements 1TB drive which has 931GB usable space. Windows 7 recognised this and agreed to do an automatic backup. So I backed up Photos and videos only. After 8hrs I stopped the backup at 2am and continued it the next day and it finished it after about 2hrs. BUT I can?t see the files. It just asks if I want to restore the files, or if I press Manage Space, it gives a date and asks if I want to delete it.

Question. Is this normal for automatic backups, that you can?t see the files and can only replace the whole lot, and I have to trust that they are there and accessible?

Any preferences as to which external drives are the best? WD, Buffalo, Seagate. They all seem to have problems. I am looking to buy another 1 to do another backup of my photos and one to do a System Image Backup.

I recommend downloading and running DRP. It's a recovery tool that has been proven to recover files that most other programs have no luck with. I've even recovered files from freshly formatted or partitioned drives.

You can download it direct from this link http://goo.gl/v51TwD. (This link will automatically start a download of DRP that you can save to your computer.)

A: Questions on automatic backup and missing space on external HD's

First, backing up to an internal drive is a really bad idea. If your computer gets infected with malware, such as one of those that locks all your data until you pay a ransom, you will not be able to access your backup. Or a virus could destroy all your data, including your backup. A hardware malfunction, such as a PSU shorting out and frying everything inside, could also takeout all your data, including the backup drive.

Backups should be kept external and physically connected to your computer only when updating the backup. It isn't as convenient as automatic backups but it's much safer. One way to ensure data is backed up as quickly as possible is to use a good, paid cloud backup service (the free ones have been known to disappear with little or no warning and are rarely secure), such as Carbonite, CrashPlan, or Backblaze, in addition to your external backups. Those work in the background, periodically uploading new and changed data to the service's servers.

For data to be reasonably safe, it should be kept in three physically different places, such as on the computer, on an onsite backup, and on an offsite backup. No matter what medium you have your data on, it is subject to failure, including ones used for backup, hence the need for more than one backup. One of the cloud backup services mentioned earlier can be used as an offsite backup although I prefer to use them to supplement a physical offsite backup.

There are several ways to make backups. The most common are imaging, cloning, folder/file syncing, and just manually dragging or copy/pasting.

Manually copy/pasting or dragging is inefficient and is highly subject to human error. It should only be considered if one has so little data to backup, it could fit onto a small USB flash drives (btw, flash drives aren't all that reliable so extra ones should be kept in case one or more quietly fails). Obviously, this shouldn't be an option for you.

System files (specifically, OS and programs) can't be simply copied and pasted to another drive. The most common ways to back them up is imaging and cloning. Imaging is like taking a photo of your system drive or partitions. The image would be the equivalent of a photo negative. The image would be used to "print" the information in it to restore the original drive or partition or to transfer it to another drive or partition the same as a photo negative is used to make a print. Imaging is the best way to backup System files since images normally get compressed a bit and one can keep multiple images on a single backup drive. The downsides of imaging include not being able to directly access individual files and folders in the image (although some imaging programs allow one to mount an image to access them) and imaging is an inefficient method of backing up data due to the resulting larger size of the image and the amount of time it takes to make an image since each image has to include all the data being backed up in each image. Some imaging programs use incremental or differential imaging to reduce the size of images after the initial image and reduce the time required to make them. However, should any one of the set of images get lost or corrupted, the entire set will be lost or only partially recoverable. It's much safer to make full images.

To facilitate imaging System files, they should be kept on their own drive or partitions, segregated from data files.

Windows Backup and Macrium Reflect Free (here is a good tutorial on how to use Macrium Reflect) are examples of imaging programs. I recommend the latter.

Cloning can be used for backups but is intended for making a duplicate of a drive or partition. It is too inefficient to use for backing up data and should be used only to move the contents of a drive to another drive, such as when upgrading a drive to a newer one. Imaging can be used for that but one would require additional steps (and time) and an intermediary drive to temporarily store the image whereas cloning goes directly from one drive to another.

While imaging is necessary for backing up System files, it is too space hungry and time consuming for backing up data. A more efficient way to backup data is to use a folder/file syncing program such as FreeFileSync or SyncToy. Folder/file syncing programs first examine the drive or folders you have selected to be backed up on the source drive and compares them to what is on the destination drive—the backup drive. It will then copy the files from the source drive to the destination drive and delete files on the destination drives as necessary to make the destination drive essentially an exact copy of the source drive. Since only changed and deleted files are dealt with after the initial backup, backups take far less time, put less wear and tear on the drives, and make a backup that can be used as is or can have files easily read or copied from the backup.

One thing I especially like about FreeFileSync is it has a feature to save files deleted from the backup to a versioning folder or drive so, if you accidentally delete a file or it gets somehow corrupted, you will still be able to recover it. I have a HDD in my computer dedicated to versioning and I also back up that drive.

Something else worth mentioning is that HDDs should not be overfilled. They need at least 10-15% free space at all times to allow for defragging, etc. SSDs should have 20-25% free space for similar reasons.

1. Ran out of this space in my Q:Lenvovo - backup assigned partition. 14GB. (My C: drive has 80GB free!) How can I fix this? Is there a way to expand the partition without deleting it first? Does Lenvovo or Microsoft or SSD manufacturer have a tool to do this where you just enter the amount you want to expand a partition to and it will adjust the other partition accordingly? If not; I cannot delete the Q:Lenovo drive using file explorer or disk cleanup utility. How do I remove at the original backup? When I go to disk cleanup it shows blank the files; so it is a hidden file or subdirectory. I even try signing on as System Administratin but forgot the password I created, it been so long ago and never use it. LOL! If I cannot do any of this: There is an option to do a Windows 10 refresh but can you redirect it to a new SSD from the existing SSD? 2. Looking to get a new SSD but in NVMe configuration. a. Does my L450 support NVMe boot up? What type of NVMe does my Thinkpad support? I thinking of getting the Samsung 860 Evo.b. Is connecting the new NVMe and running transfer SSD software the Windows 10 will recognize the drives and do the transfer? Serial NumberF0ATPKGPart Number: 20D5503800 Thanks for any help you can give in this matter!

I am very new to Windows Backup and have a few questions. Actually, my first question is not really specific to Windows Backup, but I notice it whenever I go to Disk Management to view my backups, so I hope it's okay if I ask it here.

Partition Question:

I have the following partitions on Disk 0: 100MB - 70% free C:906.34GB - which has 82% or 739.03GB free 25.07GB OEM partition which is listed as 100% free

Isn't that 25GB OEM partition the Recovery partition? If so, why is it listed as 100% free? And what is the 100MB NTFS partition for?

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Now for my Windows Backup questions:

I ran Windows Backup for the first time Thursday night morning. I chose the "Let Windows choose, recommended" option - "Windows will automatically select user files... A system image will be created including system files, drivers, registry settings, Windows and all of your programs. These items will be backed up on a regular schedule".

It took 6 or 7 hours to complete. When it was done, my 1TB external hdd had 661.51 GB free space. I was surprised because my 1TB desktop hdd still had 742 GB free space. I didn't anticipate the backup to take up more space, and I'm hoping someone can explain to me why it does. Is it because it copies virtually the entire hard drive and then also makes a specific image of the operating system, registry and installed programs?

Were I you and I'm not, I would keep my personal data and Windows in separate partitions. Maybe 60 or 80 gigs for Windows and the other 880 or whatever for data.

Then image the operating system and data partitions separately, so you avoid this confusion.

You aren't anywhere near the first person to be confused by Windows imaging--that's why many have given up on it. There are free alternatives that are much more flexible and straightforward.

The 100 MB partition you refer to was put there by Windows and is used in certain recovery operations. With luck you won't ever need to use it. You can hide it from view I think. You can even avoid it during an installation. Most people just ignore it and possibly hide it.

I can't explain why your OEM partition is shown as empty. Offhand, I wouldn't necessarily believe it is empty. Hang on to it at least temporarily.

I'd like to automatically backup certain folders to an external hard drive every time it's plugged in. I've tried Windows 7 Backup tool but it creates an icon and I would like the folder to be able to be navigatable (for the reason that I need to know what has been backed up and what hasn't, also I don't want to restore an entire folder at times, sometimes I just want to restore a couple of files).

How can I make this happen? Using either Windows 7 backup or another tool

A:Automatic Backup to external hard drive

Hello and welcome WIS mate that sounds like a tall order the only back up I know of is this Set up or change automatic backup settings

I'm looking for Good Free Automatic Backup Program that works on XP/Vista/Win7, that I will be able to configure on a standalone user's PC, and that can just make automatic backups of files (Like my documents user folders) to a External HD that will always be connected.

I'm trying to find something that is free, and robust enough to keep working on its own without needing any help, and the users will be less technical and will not be able to trouble shoot many backup issues.

I am using Vista Home Premium on an HP Pavilion a6250t desktop with a 300 GB internal hard drive and a 500 GB external hard drive for backups.

I have Backup and Restore Center set up to perform daily backups of my documents, pictures, e-mail, etc. The external hard disk is now full, preventing me from making any additional backups.

To free up space on the backup drive E, is it safe for me to (1) go to E:\My Computer Name\Backup Set 2009-02-04 163200, for example, (2) click on the + sign to expand that original backup folder, and (3) proceed to delete the backup sets created on 2009-02-05, 06, 07, 08, 09 & 10, leaving only one backup set for each of the weeks between February 4, 2009, and now?

I know that I would be losing the incremental backups for each of the days I delete. But is this procedure otherwise reasonable?

A:Automatic Backup Failure--External Disk Full

Welcome

You may find your answers hereBack Up Files - Reset Last Backup ListingHow to delete properly is shown at the beginning of the tutorial

Backup Files

Is the Backup & Restore Module scheduled back full or incremental?

To delete incorrectly would remove just the listing and not the backup itself.

I think that the best method to delete would be to delete all that your feel is outdated and then make a back up and restore back using the current date to make sure that a complete back up does exist, for the current date.

So, now I have given information which shows the correct way to delete and the fact that it is indeed incremental.

I need to learn more about backups. Bottom line is what do I do right now to make sure what I need is saved, because there's some indications that my hardware may be failing. But I want to do it right from the git-go so I don't waste a lot of time redoing things.

Here's where I'm at:

A) I have read the 1/26/06 thread started by cway's question--["Originally Posted by cway I am a 'Novice' to Backups, but am trying to learn..."]. It all seems to make sense to me.

B) Now I want to use what Stallcup (in that post) suggests as the 3rd option--["3) You want to avoid having to reinstall WinXP and have the quick, less labor intensive way of frequently backing up programs files and data." namely "frequently clone the system HDD to the backup HDD. In this way, if the system HDD gets corrupted, I can clone the backup HDD back to the system HDD"]

C) I have MAJOR concerns about what Bob Cerelli mentions about having outdated datafiles backed up--["...data has changed since the image was made, you will have old data restored. But a lot depends on how the computer is orgainized. For example, if just the OS and programs are on one partition which is imaged, and data on another, then restoring that first partition it will not affect data."] I have ADD-like memory problems about when I back up what, and I can't afford to overwrite new data with old...

I am attempting to use Windows Backup on my Dell Inspiron 560MT with Win7 Home Premium installed. It fails supposedly for lack of space available on the receiving external drive (250 GB gross, 232 GB net), of which 26.6 MB only is occupied.

The space occupied by files and folders in my hard disk partitions, C: and I: (recovery) is 171.07 GB, so I do not understand, why there is insufficient space. Surely there should be at least231-172= 59GB left once the backup is completed!

Can anyone explain and advise? Please!

A:Windows Backup says not enough space on external drive, but there is

Could you take a snip of your Disk Management and post it? It would help to see exactly how your hard drive is set up.

Open Disk Management - How Do I Open Disk Management in Windows?

Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

You may have a problem with insufficient free space in the hidden 100MB ?System Reserved? partition.

Hi all, new to the forum so please forgive me if I don't get terminology right or ask really dumb questions. I have a new desktop pc -HP pavilion p6-2203a- pre installed with windows 7 home premium service pack 1. I have a new 2tb Seagate Expansion external drive. Apparently on the hd I have 1.76tb of space, yet the system will not do a backup as it says there is not enough space. When I check through ''disk management'' the whole bar is blue, I thought if it wasn't used it should be black? Today I have spoken to hp, seagate, and microsoft who all say it isn't their problem and tell me to call one of the others. This pc is only a fortnight old and I have already had no end of trouble with it!I have also tried to save a copy of the ''system image'', but it won't let me do that either.Sorry for such a long post but has been a reeeaaaalllly long day trying to fix this and just about ready to throw this thing....

A:New external hard drive 2TB-won't backup-says not enough space

Maybe the backup programs are not ready for very large partitions.I try splitting it into two partitions. Use one for backups and the other for images.

I'm new to the forum and not super tech-savvy, so my apologies if this is a newbie type of question. Here's my scenario:

I just purchased a Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive with 2TB of storage capacity. The box states that you can "use between Windows and Mac". However, I want to make sure I do this right before I do anything with it. In the past I've had various issues with this actually being true.

I need to be able to read and write data amongst three computers, 2 macs and 1 PC. I'm going to be going to a recording studio (mac 1) and asking for him to make a copy of the stuff we edit together and put the copy on this hard drive. Then, I'm going to be working with this data on two different computers. My home base computer is a PC (PC 1). However, I also work on the road a lot. The computer I work with on the road is a mac book pro (mac 2). I will need to be able to read and write amongst all three of these computers.

SOFTWARE: Win XP Pro; EMC Retrospect 7.5. Maxtor came with Retrospect Express, which did not want to backup the network computers - and I paid to upgrade. A mistake as I found the software poorly designed, at least for use by non-technical user.

PROBLEM: When I shut down my host computer (Dim 8100) to which the external drive is connected, the external drive remains on. If I shut down the external drive by turning the power off and disconnect it, the host would not boot up. Most USB devices - you can remove, but this seems a bit clingy, and I am lost as to the explanation.

I mentioned the backup software, in case that's affecting it. My other guess is that the OneTouch part (useless as it only backs up the host computer) is causing it. Anyway, I am in dire need of some advice as to how to separate these. I am planning to install some new RAM, (requiring opening case, etc.) and would be nice to do it without having to worry about the external drive.

Any advise or explanation would be highly appreciated. I am a novice in dealing with both hardware and software...

A:Solved: External USB HD (Maxtor) and Retrospect (backup) questions

an external drive has it's own power supply, so it will not shut down with the PC.

however the issue of your PC not booting up without the USB HDD hooked is odd. you need to be more specific about exactly what the PC does when it "won't boot".

1. when u press the power switch, do your fans not spin up or do you not get video?2. does the BIOS hardware check screen or PC brand logo screen not display?3. does it boot up but won't load windows?4. does windows attempt to boot but freezes?

I installed a new harddrive the other day because my old one bit it. Everything went fine and I plugged in the back up I used to restore, which was a longer process (8+ hours). I left the computer while it did that but windows apparently shut off and restarted for an update around 75% through. Now a large amount of the back up doesn't appear to of been transferred on, and on top of that space appears to just be missing. My old drive was 400 GB and this one is 500 GB. If I now went to restore, I wouldn't have any space left on the drive which obviously makes no sense since if I had enough space on a 400 gb drive I would have even more on a 500 GB one. But it says I only have 112 GB left. Despite this, I have searched through folders etc looking for where this mysterious amount of data went and I cannot find it anywhere. I checked to see if it was paritioned and it's not. Is there anyway to figure out what happened or can anyone tell me what the heck went on?

A:Space mysteriously missing from HDD after reboot during backup transfer

Please perform the following, so that we can get the exact specs of your computer. This will better assist us in helping you more.Publish a Snapshot using SpeccyThe below is for those who cannot get onlinePlease take caution when attaching a text file to your post if you cannot copy/paste the link to your post, you will need to edit it to make sure that your Windows Key is not present.

The folder still will not delete from the Toshiba external drive. On the external drive I have 4 folders which total 705 GB but the properties say that there is 888GB used space and only 45 GB free space. I ran chkdsk but after it had run for hours it said that there was insufficient space. I deleted many files from the drive, the recycle bin on the desktop and the one on the external drive were both empty, I ran Seatools long generic scan which came back as 'pass'. I've run anti-virus checks too. I've shown hidden files and folders and protected system folders but this didn't help to find out where my space has gone. I've been trying to remember the name of any of the deleted files with the idea to carry out a search of the whole drive to see if that brings up anything but at the moment I can't remember any of the deleted file names.

I've remembered that, not long before this problem arose, I was typing something and one of the fingers of my left hand caught a key and a small message flashed on the screen but it didn't stay long enough to read it, I have no idea which key it was but it was in the lower left area of the keyboard around where the windows key is located, and, with typing so quickly I could have hit a key with my right hand at the same time and I'm wondering if this has done some weird system thing causing 2 problems the first being the missing space and the second being the folder and files that will not delete. Loopy

i was copying some files into my external HDD, into a folder called, "ABCDE". a few days later, when i plugged in the HDD into my laptop again, that whole folder was gone, along with alot of the other files. some of the files can still be seen. however, i was sure i did not somewhat accidentally delete the files, as the stuff visiblr to me on the HDD is only 28 GB or so, and when i clicked on "properties" for the HDD, it states that 240 GB was used. I tried recreating the folder "ABCDE" again so as to re-copy my files in, but Windows said a folder with "ABCDE" already existed, and asked if I wanted to merge the two folders together, although Windows search results on the HDD came out with no results. clicking on "Merge" did nothing at all, there was still no "ABCDE" folder. I have tried clicking on the "view hidden folders" option, and $RECYCLE.BIN and $AVG. turned up, (i did a stupid thing to delete $AVG. in a rash moment) and the next time i plugged my HDD into my laptop, an additional RECYCLER folder popped up. i switched off the hidden folders option and $RECYCLE.BIN was still there, and still is now. thinking it may have been a virus, I scanned using McAfee, and McAfee was actually scanning files that I had in my HDD, but cannot be seen by me, and cannot be searched by Windows. How do I solve this problem?

A:Files missing from external hard drive but still taking up space

Welcome to Seven Forums yejohn. A few things to try. Download Space Sniffer, and see if it sees ABCDE. Download Everything, and see if it can find the ABCDE folder. A Guy

How do I control how much disk space my Windows Backup takes up? I have a 1TB external disk for backups and other files. My computer's HDD only has about 250GB capacity. I don't know why my backups file got so bloated. What should I do?

I see that I can delete the older backup file: 22-Oct to 11-Nov. But read the text.""Deleting previous backups will free up space on your backup location."So far so good.

Then it continues, "All files backed up during the selected period will be deleted."

I'm pretty sure the text is just badly written. I guess that means the backup-files (on the backup drive) will be deleted. They couldn't mean that the original files (on my data drive) will be deleted. That sure is a scary possibility though. How do you understand this?

Yes, it is perhaps, badly written, but true. All files in the backup period from 22-Oct. to 11-Nov. will be deleted. Not to worry, though, because those same files are backed up in a later backup period from 11-Nov. to ? It is safe to delete older backup periods.

I have backups on several external USB storage devices. S:, T:, U:, V: and currently V: is my backup drive. I simply want to start cleaning out old backups as I have run out of space. on all my drives. V: I have reduced to a single current backup copy. However on S:, T: and U: there are several dated backups from a time ago that is now somewhat dated. So, I want to free some of this space.

It seems I cannot just change locations and manage my backup space without performing a new backup. That's sick. Anyone know a way to change the location without actually performing the backup?

Start out with USB External hard drive with 470 GB free space. Run Backup. New folder is created with zero size and removable disc free space has decreased to 258 GB. Backup message is received at end of the backup, Backup Unsuccessful
not enough backup drive free space. Did a backup actually get created with usable backup data even though the folder size is zero when the created folder properties are displayed?
Why do "Not enough free space" message occur? Is this related to some other backup operation?

Yesterday my external hard drive was working fine. Today I open it and there's a new folder called Pfiles...I am not running linux...and a tmp file. I delete the tmp file and try to delete Pfiles but it won't delete. Weird. So I open one of the folders and see that it's now empty, as are almost all of my other folders and subfolders. My daughter's folder however has her movies on the main subfolder, but subfolders in this folder are also empty.

The hard drive is showing half full...exactly what it should assuming I could access all the files. So what can I do? I've enclosed a screenshot of the Disk Management screen for this drive. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

A:Help with external hard drive. Files "missing" but still taking up space on the drive

Hi djfl,

External Hard-drives come in different types, some of them are, External storage devices and Automatic back-up devices.

If it is an automatic back-up device then data might be backed-up on the External Hard?drive without user intervention.

If it is an External storage device the files might be hidden. This could be the reason why the external Harddrive is showing half full. We can check if the files are hidden, please use the following link for detailed instructions to unhide folders: Hidden Files and Folders Option - Add or Remove

Hey, I have a YOGA 710 and I recently bought an external mic due the genius placement of the built in mic and because I started playing games with my friends recently. I got a Y-splitter along the mic and was told by the seller that I needed to select the MIC-IN option in the Realtek Audio Manager to use the mic. I did that and the mic works through the splitter but my external speaker won't work and sound is playing through the built in speaker. If I select the other option in the Audio Manager (headset/headphones) the speaker works but the mic won't. I just can't seem to get both to work at the same time. I tested the splitter with my phone and everything was working fine. I googled this and I saw some posts saying that the audio card in the motherboard might not support the Y-splitter that allows me to use both mic and speakers together. So I'm here asking if there is anyone with a similar problem. I'm currently using the MIC-IN option with my wireless headset until I can solve this issue.

I'm running Windows 7 64x Home Premium on a Toshiba Qosmio X505 laptop. I just got it back from the warranty repair center, where they replaced the hard drive and graphics fan & heatsink, and reloaded the factory windows version. Before I sent it out for repair, I used Windows Backup to create a backup of all my files on a Toshiba casio 500GB external USB drive (I had over 300 GB of files, so it was easier to use Windows Backup than drag and drop all the files, at least at the time). Now that I have the laptop back, I'm having trouble restoring my files. When I go to Control Panel-> Backup & Restore, a message appears in the restore section, saying "Windows could not find a backup for this computer." I've tried reconnecting the drive as well as restarting my computer, but to no avail. I can see and explore the files in My Computer, so I know the hard drive is properly connected. I appreciate any help you can give.

So I want to clone one external 2TB with another. So one drive is the main use one and another the backup one. So I copy everything over to backup and i store the backup at another house and then I start using the main: deleting and adding/editing files. What is the best software or whatever to allow me, after some time, synchronize/clone the externals again without deleting all on the backup drive and recopying? (main to backup) and make them clones again? ..Adding and deleting or replacing any nonidentical files.. Like where i can press a button on some software and it do the work for me.
Sorry if this is confusing

A:Best external to external hard drive synchronized backup plan?

There's a bunch of applications that can do that.

They all work pretty much the same way, but would differ in how easy they are to understand and configure---the interfaces would differ and the help files would differ.

1. I've only occasionally updated Windows XP(maybe every half year), anyway I don't want to update stuff all the time in case microsoft releases a broken update or something(which I've heard many stories about that).

Does anyone know of a site or something that reviews the lastest Windows XP updates and checks whether they're "safe/stable" or not? I thought I remember hearing about a site that does that but can't find it.

2. When I put "Notify me but don't automatically install updates", I can select which updates I want to be downloaded installed right?

I remember setting on "Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install" and I didn't have an option to choose which ones I wanted to install/didn't want to install, so do I have an option with "Notify me but don't automatically install updates"?

A:Windows Automatic Update questions:

For this you check the "Notify me but don't automatically install updates" option but when they "notify" you, go to the Microsoft Update website instead. Do not check "Express" Update. Instead, choose "Custom" . They will check which updates you need and will have options on which you want to install or not. Windows Update in XP will not do this; it is just an installer in disguise

1.) What generally determines how long it takes MS to put out an Automatic Update after its scheduled 2nd Tuesday of each month release? AND.

2.) Several friends and I (all with clean Malware-Free systems) sometimes have experianced the Windows Update notification icon diasappearing after it has been in the system tray. What causes this?

Jack

A:Questions About Automatic Windows Update?

1. Microsoft actually puts the updates out on "Patch Tuesday". When your PC actually downloads those updates depends on when your PC is configured to do so.

2. The icon will disappear when it has downloaded and installed all available "critical" updates, that does not require a reboot. If a reboot is required, then you will see a green icon when you login again, and it will tell you that updates were installed that required a reboot.

What do you think about Automatic Windows Update? I leave mine off and do my updates manually. The question that I have is that if you leave auto update on, Microsoft says that you also have to leave your computer on. In this case, do you get the traditional Windows Update screen that we all know about when it is time to update? (If you shutdown, you get a reminder at boot up that new updates are available and a prompt asking if you want to go to the site to install them.) More importantly, if you have automatic update activated, HOW DO YOU KNOW AT WHAT TIME THE UPDATES WILL TAKE PLACE? (What is the default setting for Auto Update?) If I ever wanted to reactivate Auto Update, how do you go about setting up a time schedule so that the computer is updating when you are not doing other things with it?

I have 13 Laptops with Windows 7 64 Bit, I want to know if we have a file, maybe a script to make a backup. I want to use wbadmin enable backup to configures and enables a scheduled backup. Can I find something like this for windows 7 ?

Thanks !

A:Automatic backup

See if it meets your requirements. ROBOCOPY - Create Backup Script
Also this. Should work on windows 7 too.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../dd834883.aspx

I want to buy an external hard drive to store all my photos. Looking at the specs, they all seem to mention some kind of automatic backup. Is this something I can disable? I really dislike all these "automatic" things, especially in WIN 7 where it puts things in Libraries. Yes, I know it's a wonderful new feature - to me that's just so much BS. I want to put things where I want them, not where WIN 7 wants them. Anyway, what are the ramifications of this "automatic backup" thing?

A:Automatic Backup

Hello Dick.

I really dislike Libraries also, they're a PITA to me, I too want things where I want them.

Nothing with HDDs is 'automatic' it has to be setup and if you don't do so it won't.

I would like to see a pop up warning say for example at least 10 minutes before an automatic restart is to occur in Windows 10. This will allow users to keep the automatic restart recommended setting, while at the same time, permitting them to finish their work. My Windows 10 desktop PC restarted with the huge November, 2015 Threshold 2 Update (Build 1511) in the early evening, about 7:45 PM. Restarts should be done in the early morning hours, say between 3-4am when most people are asleep.

I have selected the "Notify of Scheduled Restart." option, which I believe should be the default setting, as users in Windows 8.1 would get pop-up notices by default. Some questions:

1.) If a users selects "Notify of Scheduled Restart" for Windows Update, in Windows 10, what message will they see the next time a restart is scheduled? (Screenshots would be helpful.)

2.) Let's suppose that I schedule the restart for 3:30am when not using the computer. Will this time setting hold for all the next subsequent updates that need a system restart until changed?

Jack

A:Windows Update Automatic Restart Questions?

Jack1000 said:↑

Dear Tech Support Guy,

Automatic Restart Needs Improvement in Windows 10

I would like to see a pop up warning say for example at least 10 minutes before an automatic restart is to occur in Windows 10. This will allow users to keep the automatic restart recommended setting, while at the same time, permitting them to finish their work. My Windows 10 desktop PC restarted with the huge November, 2015 Threshold 2 Update (Build 1511) in the early evening, about 7:45 PM. Restarts should be done in the early morning hours, say between 3-4am when most people are asleep.

I have selected the "Notify of Scheduled Restart." option, which I believe should be the default setting, as users in Windows 8.1 would get pop-up notices by default. Some questions:

1.) If a users selects "Notify of Scheduled Restart" for Windows Update, in Windows 10, what message will they see the next time a restart is scheduled? (Screenshots would be helpful.)

2.) Let's suppose that I schedule the restart for 3:30am when not using the computer. Will this time setting hold for all the next subsequent updates that need a system restart until changed?

JackClick to expand...

Greetings,

Still searching for an answer to this question. The main thing I want to know is, if I change the Windows Update feature in Windows 10 to "Notification of Scheduled Restart" what will I see before a restart is scheduled to happen? Will this be a pop up notice in the syste... Read more

I am using Cobian Backup to automatically backup important data on my computer. Can anyone explain me the process by which I can use this automatic backup feature to directly backup on a Multisession CD using a CD Writer. Incase if this is not possible through this process, is there any other software through which this can be achieved. I am using Win 98 as my OS.

Thank you.

A:Automatic Backup on a Multisession CD???

IMO, this is a bad idea, not to mention I don't know of any way to accomplish it with just Cobian. This implies you'd be leaving your backup CD available at all times. In addition, you'll be writing on your previous backups to make new ones, what happens if you have a power failure that corrupts things right as you're writing the backup? You may end up losing all the backups and the primary disk.

If you really want to backup important data automatically, why not have a secondary hard drive, or perhaps a USB FLASH drive? This will make the job much easier.

You can set default store path in file backup.ini. If there are some problems, see file error.log.Click to expand...

Can someone please explain this to a newbie?where do I type the above format? in a file? what do I name that file? and where to save it?I appreciate any details please. Many thanks.

A:automatic firefox backup

sallam said:

Greetings

Apologies if I posted this in the wrong forum, mods please move it if needed.

I'm using a tool called Mozbackup to backup my firefox profile. It doesnt have an option for automatic backup, so if I forget, and my machine went off for any reason, I'm left powerless.

Someone, in another forum, said:Can someone please explain this to a newbie?where do I type the above format? in a file? what do I name that file? and where to save it?I appreciate any details please. Many thanks.Click to expand...

Since upgrades to Firefox are normally accomplished by uninstalling the current release (after, of course, downloading the new release), the uninstallation of Firefox does not lose your profile. It is preserved between the uninstall and the install wizards in your Application Data path and is to my knowledge not removed during the uninstall process as long as you tell the uninstall wizard to preserve it, i.e. do not delete it or remove everything, when prompted.

Use the Add/Remove capability from the Control Panel to Remove Firefox assuming you are on a Windows computer.

Installing a new release over top of a current release is known to have problems with Firefox which is why uninstallation is required before installing the new release at this point in time.

That said, however, it is always a very good idea to backup releases of any software prior to removing it, if for example, you run into problems with the new installation and need to get t... Read more

I am here to ask you whether you have a solution that backs up your SD card automatically, and by automatically I mean "upon insertion". An automatic solution would allow me to backup the content of my SD card in a transparent way, and a further mirroring / sync server would provide even the most accomplished photographer with an "enterprise-grade" solution for backing up and storing photos.

I believe there are different ways to achieve this, however the word transparent implies that the photographer may reformat the card without remembering to copy a script and autorun.inf file onto it. The ideal solution then it would be in such a way that windows detects that particular SD card or cards and executes a differential backup onto a different location whether on a second disk or remotely in the background. To do this you can attach a scheduled task with a specific event, namely the Insertion of the SD Card. however I have been unable to find the event in Windows 7 event log.

I would really appreciate it if you could contribute in any way to this thread. Feel free to enquire should you require further info.

Hi! Does anybosdy know how to make an automatic scheduled backup of an Access2k db?

A:Access2k automatic backup

Is it an active database? If you try and automate one you will need to close all active connections to objects and tables before it will happen. You could set up a vbs script to accomplish this and other tasks. What version of Windoze does the db reside on?

I have a memory stick, which contains some files that are updated regularly,and i insert inside my computer quite often. Those files are really important, and i need a software which backups the folder every time i insert it. Please suggest an application (peferablly freeware, but shareware will do too) that does this, or one that does something similar to it.

I have two PC's both running XP, I want to be able to sync data between them automattically when the machines are linked via Firewire (or either that just backup data from one to the other) (I can use the wireless network but I prefer the firewire because of speed).

I have had programs in the past that will sync data between two machines, but I've found that they have to be told to do it manually. Is there a program out there that will pick up the other machine automatically? - By either using sever & client style applications or whatever?

I will use a "manual" program if I have to, its just that I forget to do it.. if I have to do it the manual way, what is a good program to use?

A:Automatic Sync or backup

SyncToy 1.2 will sync folders, files, on the same computer or on different computers. Read about it and download here. It's built by microsoft but, like Tweak UI, is not a supported program. I've used it very successfully to sync music files on two drives on the same computer.

I bought a 1 TB western digital external hard drive to use as a backup. I created a disc image of my computer but I am wondering if there is software that will create a daily backup by checking for any files that are different so that it does not have to make a new disc image daily. I plan on leaving my regular computer and this backup drive always on. Is this possible and what software is recommended?

Hello; Is there a way to shut down Windows 7 automatically after a backup is finished? I like to do my backup when I go to sleep, and don't like the computer running so long after the backup is complete. Is there a built-in feature, or a 3rd party app that will do this? Thanks FW

A:Automatic Shutdown after backup?

You can make a scheduled task to achieve your aim, you can try the following steps.1. Click Start, and input Task Scheduler in the start serch bar, then press Enter.2. Click Create basic task in the Action area. 3. Enter a description for the task, and click next. 4. Choose "When a specific event is logged" in the trigger screen, click next.5. Select Microsoft-Windows-Backup/Operational in drop down menu, choose Backup as the Source.6. Enter 4098 as the event ID, and click next. 7. Select Start a program in the Action screen.8. Input C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe in the blank before the Browse button.9. Enter "/s" into the Arguments blank, click next.10 Click Finish.Now you can try to make a backup to test.Good luck!John

Does anybody know the best utility for backing up files automatically? There will be one server on a network that all of the data on each of the other computers will be backed up on every day. I heard that quickbooks can do something like that, is that the only program that does it or are there more?

So, I upgraded to Win7 Professional specifically to use the network backup feature. (Thank you student discount!) However I have having two errors, so far, no successful backups.1: Unable to create shadow copy could not be created. Please check "VSS" and "SPP" application event logs for more information. Details: insufficient storage available to create either the shadow copy storage file or other shadow copy data. (0x81000019)

Hmm, I don't think it is a storage issue. I only have about 320GB of files on my entire drive, and an entire 1TB open on this backup drive. I've looked into the VSS and SPP services and they both appear to be running so I am not sure what would be up with them.

Well... I ended up going for custom settings and turned off the shadow copy in the back up options and then attempted the back up again. And I get a classic "Access is Denied" error.

Any ideas?

A:Automatic Backup Errors

What anti-virus program are you using? It may be interfering with the 'permission' to backup.

See this an related tutorials http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/615-backup-user-system-files.html

Hey guys, quick question. I just allocated more space to my system restore to ensure that when i back up files/docs there will be sufficient space. But does the allocated space for system restore affect at all how much space is allocated for backup? If not, i will would like to turn back down the allocated space for the restore. Dont want too many restore points Thanks alot for the input!

System restore data is kept on your primary partition, backup data would need to be stored on another partition or better still - another drive, so the answer is no.... but that said if you're asking will the space allocated for System Restore affect drive imaging backups, then the answer is it will increase the size of the backup images...

That said, why would you need to operate both System Restore and Drive Imaging?